Technique of Percussion: Columns by George Lawrence Stone for International Musician Magazine 1946-1963 (Worship Essentials)

A friend recommended this book to me. Having worked with the bible of drum technique books Stick Control, I was interested in this collection of articles written by George Lawarence Stone. His voice comes through in his writing. Delivered with the succinct precision of his drum exercises, sprinkled with a bit of dry humor, this book turned out to be an entertaining read. It's like having a series of private drum lessons with one of the greatest drum teachers in history. I'm not only grateful that these articles were preserved, I'm also grateful that they have been culled together into this great collection. This is an important book for any drummer to have in their collection.

My review from my site, CRUISE SHIP DRUMMER! - a drumming blog:Technique of Percussion is a compilation of articles Stone wrote for International Musician Magazine in the 1940s-60s. It's over 400 pages long, with ample musical examples in Stone's own handwriting. It's a fascinating look at the world of percussion in the early to mid 20th century, and a major addition to the literature of percussion. If you teach, if you are in concert percussion, or if you have any interest in the history of the instrument, just buy it now. It's an essential library item.The articles, plus W. Lee Vinson's extended introduction, give a much fuller picture of Stone than we have had so far— than I had. I only know his books— I never knew anyone who knew him or studied with him. But he was a complete musician, and percussionist. The popular concept of him is extremely unbalanced— typically on the internet he is invoked as a kind of technique oracle, and author of p. 5 of Stick Control, and that's it.The columns illustrate a music centered approach to percussion. There is relatively little about technique in the modern high-performance sense, and much more about execution and interpretation— which is much more interesting and valuable information, to me. This focus feels very familiar, reminiscent of the basic approach I learned (painfully) from Charles Dowd, which Dowd got from Saul Goodman, whose career was contemporaneous with this book. The approach was always about how do you execute a part musically; technique was largely about sound, presentation, and making the part, not a means for achieving ultimate virtuosity.The book also gives a more complete picture of the state of early modern drumming. For me— honestly— drumming before the 1940s is almost prehistoric. The recordings seem inadequate, there are fewer books, many of them hurt by archaic notation and terms; and the authors were largely not genius theorists or communicators. These columns were written in mid-century, but they refer to the entire 20th century, and before— Stone's career in percussion spanned the whole century until his death in 1967, and his father was a professional drummer before that. This book gives the first real living picture I've seen of that period. There are mentions of correspondences with Sanford Moeller, Alan Abel, Edward B. Straight, Charley Wilcoxon, Fritz Berger, and many others, discussing points of music and technique.In fact the book illustrates a remarkable continuity between then and now. Percussionists of that era were dealing with many of the same issues as we do now: discrepancies between “ancient” and modern practices, interpretation of drum notation, and problems with it; points of terminology; when to use rebound; whether to play left-handed or right-handed; developing speed. Excuses given by students for not counting out loud. What's a flam. What's a ruff. When to alternate and when to use “side” (non-alternating) stickings. There's a lot about interpreting and executing rolls— still a very poorly understood area. He mentions things I do that I haven't seen others talk about: “side” triplets (RLL/LRR/RRL/LLR sticking), use of the B (both hands) sticking, for example.Stone's conversational writing style is quite dated— this is a personality formed in the 19-oughts. But it is readable, his terms are modern, or at least not opaquely old fashioned. The information that is not fully relevant to modern practice is at least very interesting history. This book is essential for anyone serious about percussion. Buy it now.An index would be helpful for future editions.